Simone De Beauvoir

Una Voce Issue 9 :: 2009 Tacoma Community College Thank you for reading the annual Una Voce magazine; we are proud to say this our ninth year strong. Una Voce is a series of exemplary essays written by our fellow students here at TCC. These papers are drawn from a variety of classes, to create a well-rounded vision of the many opportunities offered on our campus. The students in this magazine have shown extraordinary skill in their writing, and a natural strength in their fields. We enjoyed every essay submitted, and although we could not print all of them, we have chosen for publication some very interesting and well-written papers on topics including the controversial issues behind gay marriage, various approaches to issues facing everyday nurses, and an intriguing paper on our First Amendment rights. On behalf of the entire Una Voce staff, we would like to thank all who submitted their work and encourage everyone to keep writing, and pursuing knowledge and education in the fields that inspire them. A special thank-you goes to Sakura Moses from Marketing, Communication & Outreach for all of her help in the creation of this magazine, and to Marlene Bosanko for inspiring the creation of this publication back in 2001. We also acknowledge the great contributions of Dr. Scott Earle and Professor Mary Fox for their ongoing dedication to this project and to their students. Kiril Farkov, our web master, deserves recognition for making it possible for every student to have free access to our magazine over the internet. Every student here at TCC also deserves credit for their interest and support of Una Voce and the people who work so hard to create it. We look forward to next year’s publication of Una Voce, and strongly encourage students to submit their work. For more information on how you can get involved with this publication contact Dr. Scott Earle ([email protected]), or Prof. Mary Fox ([email protected]). Hearing all of your voices was an inspiration to our team, our educators, and we hope, to the rest of the student body. Although we all speak as individuals, Una Voce, Latin for “with one voice” is a symbol that together we create the one voice of our college. It is a reminder that we do not carry this influence with heavy burden, but with fortune and pride. Student editors: Michelle E. Meinhart, Saundra C. Fankell, Sophia-Marie Dalton, Jesse Stafford, Catalyst Cook Faculty advisor: Dr. Scott Earle Cover: Rudy Sugito Tjong Contents 1 The Role of Government in Media Messages and Understanding our First Amendment Rights ............................................ Jeanine Greco 6 The Civil Rights Struggle ............................................................................ Alice Martin 10 Are All Men Created Equal? ....................................................................... Signe Nelson 15 Simone de Beauvoir .................................................................................. Tera Williams 19 The Duality of Humanity ..........................................................................Robert Drake 22 Are Students Just Numbers and Letters? .........................................Sean VanDommelen 25 Investigating Brain Death and Organ Donation .......................................Debbie Kudlo 29 Routine Infant Circumcision: Why do we Cut? ........................................ Jeanine Greco 34 HIV Prevention and the Nurse’s Role ....................................................Jeff Kennington 39 A Nursing Approach to Intimate Partner Violence .....................................Adam Harris 43 The Nurse’s Role in Promoting Wellness in Families that Include a Child with Disabilities .................................................... Tami Wakefiled 49 The Nurse’s Role in Promoting Self-care and Coping Mechanisms While Performing Shift Work ..................................................................Robyn Watson 53 Whales and Sonar ...........................................................................................Kirt Killik 57 Pixilated Reality .........................................................................................Robert Drake 59 RU There? ............................................................................................Jonathan Gibbon 63 Album Review Essay #1 ................................................................Daniel Kirschenbaum 65 Scooby-Doo, What’s happening to You? ................................................... Tera Williams 68 Tevye: A Development Analysis ................................................................Cindy Varieur 72 Current Challenges for China under the U.S. Financial Crisis ...........................Yan Wei 77 Through the Eyes of a Homeless Man .............................................Sean VanDommelen 80 The Desert Son ..........................................................................................Jeffrey Moore Una Voce 2009 I 1 The Role of Government in Media Messages and Understanding our First Amendment Rights by Jeanine Greco An apt beginning to Over two centuries ago, the amendments included in the Bill this year’s magazine, of Rights were ratified, giving American citizens freedoms that this eye-opening piece were and continue to serve as fundamental and indispensable intelligently explores components of our democracy. The First Amendment prevents our First Amendment Congress from making laws regarding freedoms of expression, (its limitations and thereby preventing the government from exerting power over extensions) in the citizens. Thus, the people can seek and share information context of a government- unobstructed and without fear of legal repercussion. The First influenced media. Amendment guaranteed five basic freedoms and was “…the founders’ ultimate statement of the importance of freedom of Greco writes clearly expression in the democracy they were building” (Rodman 466). and balances the facts Principles of Enlightenment Philosophy paved the way for the First with good old-fashioned Amendment to be written into law. One of the most important reasoning. A must ideals of this philosophy is that free men must have unrestricted read for anyone calling access to both truth and falsehood in order to arrive at a logical, themselves an American. knowledge-based conclusion (Rodman 465). However, in the two “Think freely and for centuries since the inception of the First Amendment, Americans yourself; don't let the seem to have lost sight of the intense significance of the freedoms media, the government, outlined in the document. Many Americans blame misinformation or society make up your on a biased press and government propaganda or a combination mind for you,” Greco of both. Government involvement in the news and media bias says. can be obstacles in the quest for truth but if we understand the foundation of the First Amendment and the liberties granted by it, we can take the responsibility for knowledge upon ourselves. Enlightenment Philosophy paved the way for the First Amendment and John Milton’s 1644 publication Areopagitica presented a meaningful argument in favor of free speech (Rodman 465). Milton’s Puritan convictions included the idea that humans 2 I Una Voce 2009 are meant to make choices for themselves and come to conclusions based on the knowledge of both truth and fabrication (Rodman 465). Though Areopagitica was published more than a century before the Bill of Rights was ratified, Enlightenment Philosophy paved the way to guarantee freedoms that are arguably the most important to a democratic nation. However, the concepts of liability for one’s own knowledge have gone by the wayside over the centuries. Conflicting views and media bias were once vital to the core principles of freedom of expression; now many Americans feel as though media bias stands in the way of truth and project the burden of thorough knowledge onto the press. While it is true that the press is responsible for relaying vital information, the First Amendment was not intended to regulate media partiality. Americans often claim that the media is biased and are therefore not getting all sides of the story, but the media simply delivers a message, not a conclusion. Ultimately, we as citizens are responsible for the scope of knowledge that we possess, including the knowledge of the role of our government in the final cut of news that reaches the public. While the First Amendment prevents Congress from making laws regarding freedom of expression, it does not prevent the government from encouraging or creating propaganda. In fact, what we consider propaganda can be considered “Public Diplomacy” or “Information Warfare” according to Kevin R. Kosar. Additionally these strategies “are permissible and have long been practiced by the federal government” (Kosar). Knowledge of government involvement in news media, especially during times of war, is crucial in the pursuit of enlightenment. The film Control Room explores these themes thoroughly and gives the viewer an inside look at how information is regulated to the media, and therefore the public. One scene presents a military officer informing the press that they had identified 55 of “Iraq’s Most Wanted.” The military had compiled the list into a deck of playing cards that would be distributed to troops. The press was told that they would be allowed to view the deck. Contrarily, after the press conference, they were denied the viewing. Military representatives also tell the press that the bombing of the Al-Jazeera headquarters was justified due to

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